As many college graduates would have the tendency of idling around to wait for employment opportunities, the case is different with one Evans Amwayi from Vihiga county.
Along a dusty street running through Mbale town, a 24-year-old can be seen bending as he works on a motorcycle engine outside his small roadside repair shack.
His hands are calloused, his face streaked with oil, but his eyes glint with quiet pride. He didn’t wait for white-collar salvation; instead, he built his own lane-literally.
“I studied for a diploma in mechanical engineering at the Sigalagala National Polytechnic in Kakamega county, but after graduating, a job never came my way,” he says.
Amwayi says he resolved to start a hustle of repairing and servicing boda boda motorbikes and that he can handle up to 15 bikes a day to earn his daily bread.
He is a member of a group of young people calling themselves hustlers- a lot of the youth who have turned to informal, self-initiated businesses to beat unemployment. From tailoring and online freelance tasks to street vending and digital marketing, these young people are rewriting the narrative of self-employment.
“I had to start with the most basic tools; I bought a spanner kit and a borrowed jack,” he recalls, adding that these tools would enable him to take off.
The mechanic explains that building trust was another struggle as at first, the customers tended to have doubts and therefore he had to fix a few bikes for free just to prove his capability in the job.
He also highlights the need for mentorship so that they know about registering businesses, bookkeeping and growing the enterprises.
The mechanic is challenging his peers to be innovative and venture into any income-generating activity to sustain themselves instead of waiting for jobs.
By Marion Amwayi and Sammy Mwibanda
